Jeff Garcia tells the Browns he’s available

Jeff Garcia, the 43-year-old quarterback who hasn’t thrown an NFL pass in five years, is interested in a comeback with the Browns.

Garcia told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland that he would be interested in playing for the Browns, who are currently deciding between Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell as their starter.

“I actually reached out to the Browns and said ‘work me out, take a look, I’m open to the opportunity,'” Garcia said, via Keith Britton.

The Browns were apparently not interested, which is not surprising, considering the last time Garcia threw a pass in the NFL was in 2008 for the Buccaneers. Garcia (who played for the Browns in 2004) has attempted to stay in football into his 40s and has spent time with the Raiders, Eagles and Texans along with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.

When we last heard from Garcia he was working with JaMarcus Russell and talking up Russell’s chances of returning to the NFL, but Garcia didn’t sound too high on Russell when speaking to 92.3 The Fan today. Garcia said he helped Russell get into shape early this year and believed that Russell was serious about an NFL comeback, but according to Garcia, Russell “got soft” after they stopped working together.

“I just don’t know if that fire, that hunger, continued to burn,” Garcia said of Russell. “That’s the unfortunate thing because that three months that he was with us, he really committed himself.”

It sounds like we can safely say neither Russell nor Garcia will return to the NFL.

All this time I was thinking the reason I hadn’t made it onto an nfl roster was due to my lack of athletic ability but now thanks to Mr. Garcia I realize it was simply because I never called and asked!

Sport is hard to give up isnt’ it? People talked about Favre, but any player outside of Robert Smith, Barry Sanders & Jim Brown only retires because no one wants them anymore, not because they don’t want to or believe that they can play anymore. Garcia falls into that category. And even HE would be better than Tebow.

True, but I’m merely speaking from the POV revolving around his “comeback” attempt. I’m looking at it as he busted his way out and now he has a second chance to get back in, and I question his heart as much as Garcia does. If Jamarcus wants in bad enough, then he needs to figure out how and who might be able to help him and I’m not seeing Garcia as being the best match for that goal.

realitypolice | Oct 22, 2013, 12:51 PM MST
thestrategyexpert says:
Oct 22, 2013 3:46 PM
Jamarcus’ first mistake was deciding to work with a guy that is more interested in talking about the job for himself than his protege.

So you think THAT was Jamarcus’ first mistake? I think he made one or two before that.
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Yeah, I’m guessing on JaMarcus’s official list that’s at about mistake #187,932. And counting.

mackcarrington says:Oct 22, 2013 4:31 PM

Dude’s 43. At age 43 most cats don’t want to get hit the way they did when they were 23. He needs money.

Jeff, if you still want to play football, give the Minnesota Vikings a call. Last night they pulled a fan out of the crowd and let him have the entire game to show off his stuff and he managed to complete just about 35% of his pass attempts. At least I hope that was a fan, because that wasn’t a professional QB I watched for three hours.

bennyb82 says:Oct 22, 2013 5:40 PM

The Browns turned down his offer but then probably called Archie Manning.

I have no idea whether a 43 year old Garcia could do much. But I bet the age limit on being an effective NFL quarterback is now beyond 40. I think you will see that before too long. Take a guy who doesn’t rely heavily on arm strength and/or running, who is a pocket passer who is great at reading defenses, and that guy would probably be decent beyond age 40. Drew Brees for example.

Dennis Allen's Outgoing Persona says:Oct 22, 2013 5:48 PM

Dude would have a chance to start in OAK eventually , due to injury, but he couldn’t keep his lisping rant about how he should start holstered and got cut for being a cancer.

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This is only half true. Jeff Garcia was signed in 2009 and after seeing JaMarcus and his work ethic wanted to be the starter. He kept on saying he was a competitor and wanted a competition. After Al wouldn’t do that, he asked to be released. He wasn’t a cancer he wanted to push everyone to be the best. Ironically Bruce (Almighty) Gradkowski ended up taking over since Russel’s play was so awful

It’s time that teams get serious about developing back up QBs. Why have guys on your team, pay them good money, and don’t trust them to play when their times comes. Might has well just throw a running back out there and run the wild cat exclusively. Sad that a better option than most available young QBS is a 43 yr old.

Give him a shot. There’s a bunch of mediocre QBs in a position to start. At least he understands the NFL.

td40 says:Oct 22, 2013 6:12 PM

maybe I’m imagining things, but I seem to remember him making comments to the effect that he would never play for the Browns again. He had a very bad stint there and was more or less run out of town on a rail. I remember a lot of animosity. It sems he’s desperate for $$$ and probably ready to beg for work from any team that looks like they’re desperate for a QB.

bensstinkyfingers says:Oct 22, 2013 6:18 PM

Yeah I’d rather have Favre dust off his wranglers, and give it a shot with the brownies. Signing Garcia would make a few browns fans happy, the ones still rockin Garcia jerseys at the stadium on sundays. I give them props for still wearing them though even if it has been nearly ten years with the team. THe browns will roll with the Weeden / Campbell option at Qb for the rest of the season, as Lombardi and Banner have no interest in winning this year obviously.

I would take Jeff back in a heartbeat. He got hosed here as all he did was run for his life as we had no O-line and then that idiot head coach Butch Davis said “he looks skiddish”. I would welcome Garcia as he knows offense and how to protect the football. Weeden is a bumpkin who will not “own” anything.
The Browns front office want a reason to draft “their guy” at qb even if it means tanking games now that Hoyer is on the scrap heap for the rest of the year. It’s disappointing even if it is the right thing to do. I guess.

Just give Campbell the ball and let’s see what he can do. Campbell was doing a good job for the Raiders before he got injured.

They started the season 4-2 but he was not playing well. In their first 2 wins he averaged something like 115 yards a game. He isn’t an nfl qb. He has talent but he won’t let it go out on the field. He stands there and stares at the field until it’s too late then he checks down or takes a sack.

Jeff Garcia. A stupid last ditch effort by Butch Davis to catch lightning in a bottle and save his job. I couldn’t stand that dude when he played for us. Holy smokes, we’ve sucked for so long. No thanks, Jeff.

@cornerstone2001 “It’s criminal that Tebow hasnt been a shot this year. He’s better than half the stiffs at QB right now and is a WINNER !”

Tebow was given a shot this year by the Patriots and he didn’t make the team.

The Broncos were winning despite Tebow, so please stop with bring in Tim Tebow. He gets sacked way too much, he can’t throw, he just can’t. He had games were he was 2 of 8 and 6 of 22!!! As bad as Weeden is, he is better than Tebow.

i feel bad for you brownie fans. you have a good d, but you trade your best offensive player for a late 1st rd pick? josh gordon has the potential to be an elite reciever but that wont matter until you get a qb.